


Yes, There is a Santa Claus

by PattRose



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Gen, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-02-28 05:56:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2721284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PattRose/pseuds/PattRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim and Blair decide that their goal for Christmas is to make a certain six year old child in their building believe in Santa Claus, again.</p><p>Happy Birthday, Annie B<br/>December 25, 2014.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yes, There is a Santa Claus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnnieB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieB/gifts).



**Title** : Yes, there is a Santa Claus  
 **Type** : Gen  
 **Rating** : Gen  
 **Word Count** : 2783  
 **Summary** : Jim and Blair decide that their goal for Christmas is to make a certain six year old child in their building believe in Santa Claus, again.  
 **Warnings** : Sappy  
 **A/N** : Happy Birthday, AnnieB, yes, those are Jim’s eyes on this Santa Claus. LOL

** Yes, there is a Santa Claus **

[ ](http://s71.photobucket.com/user/PattRose1/media/jimsantaannie_zpsa99540c6.jpg.html)

When Jim and Blair were walking down the stairs, Jim grabbed Blair and put his finger to his lips and cocked his head to listen to what was going on. Jim heard the little boy from the third floor answering a question. The older kids had asked him what he got last year for Christmas and he said that his dad was out of work, so Santa couldn’t come. The other kids had laughed and one of them said, “You must have been really bad, because Santa goes to everyone’s house unless they are bad. Maybe it’s your fault your dad is out of work.” The little boy started crying and ran to the elevator and got on.

When Jim started down the stairs again, Blair still didn’t know what was going on, but Jim walked up to the kids and said, “If there is a Santa, you wouldn’t get a thing. Go make someone else’s life miserable.”

Blair couldn’t believe that Jim was telling off some eight year old kids. He knew he missed something good and couldn’t wait to hear the reason.

The kids turned to Jim and the oldest one said, “We don’t have to listen to an old man like you.” They all laughed and walked away. Jim started after them and Blair grabbed his arm and stopped him. 

“Jim, I want you to tell me what’s going on and what made you so angry.”

“They made Roman cry. You know the six year old that lives on the same floor as us? Well, he thinks the reason he didn’t get any Christmas presents last year is because he was bad. And they made him believe his dad being out of work might be his fault, too. He’s six years old. I didn’t even know he didn’t get a Christmas, did you?”

“No, Jim, I didn’t. But we don’t know them that well. Just well enough to say hello to each other in the hall and in the elevator. Poor little guy. I wish there was something we could do.”

Jim pulled his cell phone out and dialed his dad’s number. “Ellison.”

“Hi Dad, it’s Jim. I wondered if you have any job openings for anything in your building.”

“Jimmy, the only thing I have open right now is a janitorial position that doesn’t pay too badly. Do you know someone that might be interested?”

“I might, Dad. I’ll call you later and let you know. Can you hold it for a day or two while we try and figure out what to do?”

“Jimmy, who is this for and what brought this on?” 

Jim walked to his truck and got in and told William all about what those children had told Roman. William was appalled. He couldn’t believe little kids could be that cruel so soon. “Jimmy, ask him as soon as possible, so he can come and talk to me.”

“I’ll talk to him today, Dad. Thanks. Bye.”

As they sat there talking in the truck, they saw the bus come up and Roman came flying out the front door to catch it just in time. 

Jim looked at Blair and asked, “How would you like to ask the neighbor if he needs a job?”

“Let’s do it now, Jim. That poor man has been out of work for ages. And I know that his wife works long and hard. He’s the one that takes care of Roman. So, it would really come in handy to have another job in the family. But either way, we’re giving Roman a good Christmas.”

Jim smiled at his best friend and said, “I was thinking the very same thing. Great minds and all that.”

They went back upstairs to the third floor and knocked on the door where Roman lived. Roman’s dad opened the door and smiled when he saw Jim and Blair. “Hello, what can I do for you?”

Jim decided to just jump right in. “What sort of work did you do before, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“What are your names again?” the man asked. 

“My name is Jim Ellison and this is my roommate, Blair Sandburg.”

“My name is Samuel Evans. It’s good to actually meet you. I used to be the janitor at the school down the street until they had the cut-backs and I was laid off. Why do you ask?”

“My father owns a large company called Ellison Enterprises and his building is quite large. He needs another Janitorial worker and would like to see you today if that’s possible,” Jim said. 

“Are you kidding? I would love to work again. I could be there anytime today,” Samuel said. 

Jim said, “I have to make a call really fast and I’ll be right back.”

Blair asked, “While Jim calls his dad back, could I talk to you about Roman? Some boys were teasing him and he was crying earlier. They are very cruel kids. Anyhow, Jim and I would like to be Roman’s Santa this year. We’ll get him a bike, some toys that he would like, some new shoes and clothes for school. Would that be all right with you and your wife?”

“We don’t expect you to do anything like that. That’s going way past the friendly neighbor policy,” Samuel said. 

“It would mean the world to us, Samuel. Jim and I don’t have much family, so we have no one to fuss over or spoil. Just think about it, at least.”

Samuel looked at Blair and realized he really wanted to do this for his son and he said, “I guess that would be okay. But, not too much. We don’t want him to think it’s all about presents.”

“Got, it, Samuel. Here comes Jim. He might have news.”

“Samuel, my dad, William Ellison, would like to see you in two hours. He said if you’re interested, the job is yours,” Jim said. 

“I better get ready. Could you give me the address, please?” Samuel asked. 

Jim handed him one of William’s business cards and smiled. “Good luck and I’m glad that you’re going to be doing better, soon.”

“Thank you both. Now, I must go and get ready.” He shut the door and Jim could hear him calling his wife. 

Jim looked at Blair and grinned. “He’s calling his wife already. It feels good to do something nice for someone, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. School is going to be out in four days, so we need to ask Samuel if he would let us get them a tree, put it up, decorate it and have it there before Roman comes home from school,” Blair said. 

“I’m sure he would trust us with his key, don’t you think?” Jim wondered. 

“I think so. We’ll talk to him tomorrow morning or tonight. Whenever we see him alone without Roman.”

“We better get to work, Chief.”

“Simon is probably chewing on that gross cigar, right about now.”

Both men laughed as they walked down the stairs.

*

That night, Jim was taking the trash out and saw Samuel doing the same thing. Samuel was very happy.

“I got the job, Jim. Your dad is so kind. He gave me a big bonus for signing up with his company so we’re going to have a wonderful Christmas dinner this year. My wife’s name is Mia and she asked me to ask you and Blair to come to dinner on Christmas day. Do you think you could make it?”

“We’re both off that day, so that sounds good to me. Thank you for thinking about us. Now, I have a question to ask. How you feel about letting Blair and me put a tree up in your house tomorrow while Roman is in school? We want it to be a surprise for him and we’ll leave a big note and say it’s from Santa. We can even say that we missed his apartment last year and we’re very sorry. But you would have to trust us with your key in order for us to do that.”

“My wife is home tomorrow morning, if you’d like to do it then. Roman is going to the neighbors after school, but he doesn’t get out until about three. They are babysitting him until I get home at five. My wife will be home until one. Would that work? I could tell Mia to expect you. This is very kind of you, Jim. Roman was so happy tonight when he found out I got a job. He just knows that Santa is going to be coming now.”

“We’ll get the tree and take it up at 9:00, because he’ll be in school by then. Tell Mia, we’re looking forward to decorating with her,” Jim said with a huge smile on his face. 

“Thanks again, Jim.”

They both threw their trash away and walked back up the stairs talking about Roman. Jim gave Samuel a business card to get a hold of him for anything. Samuel thanked him and walked to his door grinning like a youngster. 

When Jim walked into the loft Blair said, “I was ready to send out the Calvary. What took you so long?”

“I met Samuel in the hallway and we walked down together. He got the job. He’s so happy, Chief. And he said if we wanted to do the tree tomorrow morning that would be great because Mia, his wife is home until one o’clock. We could go and pick out a tree tonight, get some decorations and the lights. What do you think?”

“Come on, Santa, let’s get busy. We don’t have too long before the stores will be closed. Hop to it, Jim.”

First they got the decorations, the lights, and garland and then they stopped on the way home to get the tree. They decided not too large but yet, not a small one either. It was going to be perfect.

*

The following day, they helped Mia put the tree up, decorate it and then got out of there so they wouldn’t get caught. Mia was so relaxed and happy with Jim and Blair.

Jim told Blair when Samuel went to pick up Roman from the neighbor’s house. Jim listened and he didn’t have to tell Blair, because Blair heard the squeals of delight when Roman saw everything. Jim and Blair did a high five and knew they had done a good thing for that day. Now, they just needed to plan for Christmas presents.

*

Blair saw Mia two days later in the afternoon before Roman got home and Blair asked if he could talk to her about the gift situation. Mia invited Blair in and asked, “What’s going on, Blair?”

“We want to get Roman a bike and some clothes and shoes, but we would love to get him something really special. Does he need anything special?”

“The only thing Roman asked for was a job for his dad. And that’s already been taken care of because of you two. You don’t need to do any more for him.”

“Could he use a new bed or dresser?” Blair asked, hoping they could think of something.

“He sleeps on a cot, Blair. We’ve had a hard two years and we just haven’t had the money to get anything yet. We can’t let you get him a bed. That’s too much.”

Blair thought for a moment and said, “How about if we say it’s from the elves? Please let us do this for him. He would love it. We can bring everything over that night and he’d wake up to a living room full of furniture, a bike and clothes. Oh, I need his sizes for clothes and shoes, too.”

Mia hugged Blair and said, “Make sure and tell Jim that one hug is for him. I will let you do this for Roman because he needs to believe again. He’s been so sad.”

Mia got a paper and wrote down all of Roman’s sizes and smiled as she handed the list to Blair. 

Blair left and went shopping for furniture. He got a twin bed, a dresser and a matching desk for Roman’s room. Then Blair picked out some cute sheets, blanket and bedspread. Jim was going to be in charge of the clothing, underwear, socks and shoes. Blair sort of snickered when he realized he got the more exciting part of the deal.

*

**Christmas Eve**

At ten o’clock, Jim opened the door to Samuel. “I take it he’s sleeping?”

“Yes, we finally got him down about an hour ago. We have Christmas music going, so that will drown out some of the noise we might make. Thank you both for making this year so special for our son.”

Blair said, “You are most welcome. Now, let’s get this stuff moved over there.”

The three men moved things for the next two hours. They set everything up in the living room so that Roman would be surprised. They even went as far as to put the bed together and make it. The bike they got him was super nice and Samuel was looking forward to teaching Roman how to ride it. 

“What time are we coming over tomorrow?” Blair whispered.

“Dinner will be done at two. So come any time after one. And don’t you dare bring a thing. I have so much food in the kitchen, it isn’t even funny,” Mia said, quietly. 

Jim and Blair said their goodbyes and left for the evening. Both men felt super good and knew that there was going to be a very happy boy come tomorrow morning.

*

At about two o’clock, Jim and Blair walked over to Samuel and Mia’s house. Roman answered the door and said, “My mom said you were coming. Come on in. Look at what Santa brought me!”

Jim and Blair made a big deal over everything. Roman was positively vibrating with excitement. There was a knock on the door at 2:15 and Roman opened it to find a huge box on the doorstep. “What do you think this is, Dad and Mom?”

Samuel gave Jim and dirty look and Jim whispered, “It’s not from us.”

Jim and Samuel pulled the box into the apartment and Samuel opened it with a box cutter. Inside were presents for Mia and Samuel, from Santa. Mia opened the first one and it was a gorgeous sweater that she said she had always wanted. She put it on and smiled at everyone. Samuel opened up a gift and it was a fishing rod and reel, with a great tackle box filled with everything he would need for fishing. Samuel said, “I’ve always wanted to take Roman fishing, we just couldn’t seem to afford it.”

Jim and Blair kept looking at each other, like, maybe there was a Santa, but they didn’t say anything. Both Samuel and Mia got six presents each and they were all things that they had wanted for years. There was one present left in the box and it was to Roman. He opened it and it was a small fishing rod so that he could go with his dad on the weekends. 

Mia said, “I think we should eat and give many thanks to the good Lord and to Santa. We wouldn’t have known what to do without them.”

They all sat down at the table and had a fantastic meal. Even dessert was wonderful. At five, Jim and Blair finally left for the day. Mia walked them to the door and asked, “How did you know?”

“We didn’t do this, Mia. Honestly, we didn’t. We’re as surprised as you are,” Blair said. 

“I wish we could take the credit, but we didn’t even think about you and Samuel, sad, but true,” Jim added. 

“We will see you soon. Both of you boys have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

“Thank you, Mia,” Jim said as he hugged her. 

Blair, not to be outdone did the same thing and said, “May the season bring nothing but happiness and joy.”

Jim and Blair went to the loft and closed the door behind them. 

“Hey Jim, who do you think brought that stuff? It was all stuff they really wanted.”

“I have no idea, Chief, but I know one thing for sure. Yes, there is a Santa Claus.”

The end


End file.
